A Greater Story

"Hope is not the same as optimism, the pastor pointed out.

Optimism has its place,

but it is at its core the name given to a way of looking at things.

The glass is either half full or half empty–our opinion of it doesn’t change the amount of water in the cup.

Sure, it changes our disposition, and of course an optimistic one is the better of the two.

But Hope goes deeper.

Hope gives thanks that there is such a thing as water,

and remembers that whether the glass is empty or full,

there is a greater story being told.

If there is water in the glass, then somewhere beneath the earth,

in cathedral caverns where no eye has yet seen,

a clear river courses.

I may cry out in pain or sorrow (which seems to me anything but optimistic),

and yet have hope, though I cling to it feebly."

~ Andrew Peterson